RDR wrote:I'm always bemused by the idea we need yet more office blocks when quite a few seem to lie empty.

Yes, there appears to be a glut if you look at all the "To Let" signs, but the prestigous blue-chip companies that the city is trying to attract are only interested in Grade A office space, that's built to all the latest standards in energy efficiency, connectivity, infrastructure etc. Your Morgan Stanleys of the world ain't going to relocate in some grotty old Brutalist block from 1971.

The older 1970s office blocks - if they can't be let out again - either get demolished, replaced by 21st century ones, or converted into hotels - and there are plenty of examples over the last few years.